On the eve of the debates, Romney hits an all-time high of personal unfavorables since January. The red line is his unfavorable number, the black his favorable. His previous high-point for general disdain was (yes!) 47.3 percent of Americans in February – back when evangelicals were still looking for someone else. So on that 47 percent number, Mitt, the feeling appears to be mutual.

On the black favorable line, you can see two jumps – when the GOP base rallies and then when the GOP-leaners try to like him.You can see them pulling for the college try. But the convention comes and … well … they see Clint Eastwood talking to a chair.

But notice the nose-holders never decline that much from February all year, and then the fall arrives and – the genuine, revved-up dislike intensifies sharply. Since the campaign started, Mitt Romney has never been disliked by more Americans – 49.4 percent, to be precise – than now. The personal dislike of him is unprecedented in recent presidential history.

Those debates had better be dynamite, hadn't they?